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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says the relationship between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri has become even stronger. Stella said: "It wasn't a given that, after last year – when they found themselves battling for the world title right up to the final race – the harmony they'd built would remain intact. Yet not only has this not changed, but the relationship between them and with the team has actually become even stronger. Whilst this might, in a sense, have been expected of Lando – given that he was ultimately the one to become champion – it was not quite so predictable for Oscar."
Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says the team’s biggest limitation in trying to make the next step in Formula 1 is financial, with its smaller headcount and resources meaning it takes longer to turn solutions into parts on the car. Komatsu said: "It’s mainly financial. In terms of structure, I don’t see a big problem. Yes, it can be better, but there are many more things [to do] before we have to change any structure that we can put in place with a slightly better revenue, to be able to give people more resources, better software, better tools, the ability to improve the process, procedure, etc. Everything takes time and human being resources, to do that, it’s revenue."
Arvid Lindblad says Racing Bulls should keep pushing and focusing on itself in its constructors’ championship fight with Alpine, with just five points separating the teams. Lindblad said: "We're fighting Alpine and we're seven-eight tenths quicker in quali. I don't think it's really about hanging on. I think it's about continuing to focus on ourselves and bring updates, which I know the team has got good stuff coming. So I really don't think the mindset's hanging on, it's about pushing on."
Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta says the second half of the season will be “more intense” after the summer shutdown, with pressure rising on teams fighting for championships. Resta said: "History tells us that the championship always changes after the summer shutdown. The pressure increases on the teams that are leading, but equally it increases on the teams trying to catch up. The environment becomes more intense, and every result carries more weight."
Max Verstappen says he is not treating the upcoming Dutch Grand Prix as a farewell to Zandvoort, suggesting other events could still be held at the circuit even if this is the last Formula 1 race there for some time. Verstappen said: "I'm taking a down-to-earth view of it, though. It is indeed the last Formula 1 race, but the circuit will still be there, and other series will continue to come there. Test days can still be organised there, so it doesn't feel like a farewell to me. Of course, the massive orange celebration might come to an end, but we might be able to bring some of that back with a demo day, like in the past."
Cadillac Formula 1 team principal Graeme Lowdon says the team is still building its new Fishers factory and other facilities while racing, with the Indianapolis site expected to start operating in broad terms next year. Lowdon said: "We're still building. It's building the plane while flying in it. We're still building factories... [The Fishers factory] is still in construction at the moment. It'll be phased, because it's 450,000 square feet. It's not small... [Asked if things would start next year at Fishers] In broad terms, yes. It's very well advanced, the whole construction there, but it's a huge project."
Flavio Briatore says Aston Martin’s difficult start to the 2026 season shows that state-of-the-art facilities and top engineers alone are not enough to be competitive in Formula 1. Briatore said: "Sure, maybe somebody has a better facility. But we see as well the example of Aston Martin, with the best facility in the world, and the best engineer in the world. It's not so competitive, you know? It's only a question of the people need to believe it's possible to win. Put [in] all the effort."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team needs to find more performance in low-speed corners despite the step forward it made with its upgrade package at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Stella said: "We improved in some areas where we are now, in Hungary at least, comparable to Ferrari. We need to improve further in low speed. Some of the performance came in the straights, which I think is the benefit of running the HPP power unit."
Liam Lawson says Racing Bulls are enjoying their “strongest” development programme since he joined the team, as he praised the way the VCARB03 has consistently responded to upgrades this season. Lawson said: "On the development side, by far the strongest. So far, I think everything we've been bringing has been working very, very well. And that's something that is hard in Formula 1. Obviously, you have upgrades that are run through simulations and theoretically can be better. But they're not always exactly what they seem."
Alex Albon says Williams have been “putting out little fires” this season, making it difficult for him to separate his own performance from the car. Albon said: "It's very psychological this year, in that sense, because there is no easy thing. As a team, we're also fighting extinguishers. We have little fires that we're trying to put out. So it's hard to differentiate what's you and what's the car."
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says Mercedes has “a decent amount of performance” already in production that will start reaching the W17 in the races after the summer break shutdown. Lord said: "The second one came in Montreal, and then post-summer break, there's a decent amount of performance working its way through the production machinery at the moment, then start coming to the car from the races after shutdown."
McLaren boss Andrea Stella says his team can still “achieve a great deal” in the title fights if it can maintain the momentum it showed in Budapest, where Lando Norris took a first win of the season before the summer break. Stella said: "If we can continue the season as we did in Budapest, we can still achieve a great deal. To do so, we must keep pushing with the development of the MCL40 and ensure we outpace our rivals - who certainly aren't standing still - in this race within the race, which is the competition over updates. In the first part of the season, we struggled more than we expected in this regard too, but I believe that in recent years, once we've gained some momentum, we've been able to maintain it."
Aston Martin driver ambassador Jessica Hawkins says she believes a woman will race in Formula 1 within “a few years”, as she backed the F1 Academy to help develop drivers capable of fighting for grand prix seats. Hawkins said: "I think we're a few years away from it. But I do believe it will happen. I would be a fraud if I sat here and said I didn't think that would happen because I do believe it. If I were to say no, it would go against everything I stand for."
Kimi Antonelli says there are times he wishes he was not famous so he could have more privacy, even as he enjoys the support he gets when he returns home to Italy. Antonelli said: "To the other question of being famous, for sure there are times where you would like not to be recognised when you do certain things, when you go for dinner. But that's also part of being an athlete. To be fair, as long as you're able to embrace these moments, I think it's also very nice and very enjoyable. But, of course, there are times where I would like to be unrecognised."
Honda chief F1 engineer Shintaro Orihara said Honda’s upgraded engine for Aston Martin at the Dutch Grand Prix includes changes to the pre-chamber, piston shape and lubrication system. Orihara said: "We focused to improve engine performance, to make combustion faster. So it's kind of a secret, but I can disclose a little bit. We changed the pre-chamber to make combustion faster, and we also changed the piston shape to get good combustion. We modified some lubrication system to reduce friction. We had quite a big list to improve engine performance."
Formula 1 president and chief executive Stefano Domenicali says a German Grand Prix could return to the calendar in the medium term, pointing to Audi and Mercedes-Benz having their home base in Germany. Domenicali said: "With regard to the potential [of a German Grand Prix], I would say that we don't have to forget that we have Audi that's stepping into the business. We have Mercedes-Benz. We have big partners that have their home base in Germany. I think now Germany wants us to think in the medium term if they can come back into the calendar... It will not, in that case, be a short-term call, but definitely will happen."
Carlos Sainz says his timeline to win again in Formula 1 with Williams has been “delayed by a year or two” after the team slipped back in the pecking order this season. Sainz said: "I think there's no secret that my expectations, or let's say my timeline for how long it would take me to win a race again and for Williams to be the place to do that, have been delayed by a year or two. It depends on how quickly we manage to bounce back from this situation. Clearly, that timeline, unfortunately for all of us, because obviously the team is also affected by it, is going to be longer than we expected."
Charles Leclerc says Ferrari need to understand why they have been strongest at races where they expected to struggle, after winning the British Grand Prix and finishing second in Belgium but ending up fourth in Hungary. Leclerc said: "The thing that is standing out for me after the last three races is that, out of the last three races, there were two races where we were expecting to struggle, and we finished first and second. And in the race where we expected to do well, we finished fourth and fifth."
McLaren Formula 1 technical director Neil Houldey said the team was “disappointed” not to spot Ferrari’s rotating rear wing concept sooner, as McLaren works on introducing its own version in the next few races. Houldey said: "We were disappointed not to pick that up as quickly as Ferrari did and then Red Bull. As soon as we saw it, we realised there was an opportunity there and we looked into it for a while. But there are all these big performance upgrades on offer for the wing, so it wasn't our prime project, and we were working on it in the background."
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